Will you meet Santa spreading festive cheer on Eastbourne's buses?

• Special Santa bus will appear around town on routes 1/1A and The Loop

• Santa (aka local bus driver Brian Newton) will be giving away goodies on the bus and raising money for local charity Children with Cancer Fund

A charitable bus driver is once again dressing up as Santa this Christmas to raise as much as possible for a worthy cause. Brian Newton will swap his Stagecoach uniform for a Santa costume as part of the now annual Christmas fundraising campaign for local charity Children with Cancer Fund.
The Stagecoach driver will be spreading Christmas cheer to passengers on bus routes 1/1A and the Loop each day. The fundraising driver will be handing out sweets to youngsters and asking for donations to the cause as he takes passengers to their destinations across the town from 18 December until Christmas Eve.

For the last two years the charity initiative has gone down a storm with passengers who are thrilled to see Santa driving buses across the town. Brian has been with Stagecoach in Eastbourne for four years and his efforts helped raise over £1,000 for the charity last Christmas.

He said: “Santa brings smile to many faces in Eastbourne area, in a sometimes gloomy world I hope it brings people together and lifts the spirits of passengers and my colleague drivers at this very special time of the year.”

He hopes that his passengers will give their generous support to Children with Cancer Fund. “I wanted to help a local charity for children who have been diagnosed with cancer.”

Krystian Kaczala, local operations manager at Stagecoach’s Eastbourne depot, said: “This has become a popular feature on our buses in recent years and the response from the public is really positive.”

“Everyone loves Santa and I think it has become a part of the build up to Christmas in the community.”

“I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who supports us.”

Children with Cancer Fund is a Polegate based charity made up of a small group of volunteers. Their aim is to grant wishes to children and their families, who have, or have had, cancer and who primarily live in East Sussex.

Santa will be behind the wheel of a route 1/1A or Loop bus from Monday 18 December until Christmas Eve.